Turning Points
by MadBangel
Summary: What Elena and Damon are thinking during their dance in 1x19 'Miss Mystic Falls'.
1. Damon

Turning Points

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own the Vampire Diaries.

**Author's Note**: I know this dance has probably been written about a thousand times, but it's still one of, if not the most seductive Delena moment ever. Just two people who are taken for a moment out of their ordinary roles and see each other in a different light.

Damon's POV

"Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mr Stefan Salvatore!" the MC announces.

I look around the room for Stefan. Still not there. Oh shit.

I turn back to the staircase just as Elena comes into view, wearing that blue dress she was holding earlier. My God, she's beautiful.

With her hair in curls like that she should look even more like Katherine, who wore her hair that way when I knew her. But I've had some time to get to know this girl, and the two are nothing at all alike. She's never looked more _Elena_ to me than now, as the faked smile she's wearing slips off her face as she realizes that Stefan isn't at the bottom of the staircase waiting for her.

I'm seriously worried about Stefan now. There's only one thing that would stop him from being here right now waiting to take Elena's hand. He's either eating someone, or going to. Oh brother. Stefan sure can pick his moments to fuck things up.

I realize that I have to make a move. Elena's descending the staircase and there's no one there to meet her. If not Stefan, it'll have to be me. There are a lot of practical reasons why I have to do this – keeping up appearances and all that – but all I can think about as I gaze up at her is that I must be the luckiest son of a bitch in the world right now.

As she approaches, eyes full of worry for my brother, I lift one corner of my mouth up. It's both a greeting and an apology – for not being the man she really wants to see right now.

"Where's Stefan?" she whispers urgently.

"I don't know," I whisper back honestly as I take her hand and begin to escort her outside. As we pass the crowd my vampire hearing catches Jenna and Ric's whispers of worry at seeing me, Damon, with Elena. It strikes me as a little unfair - if only they knew what Stefan's probably doing right about now. He's sure as hell not eating bunnies.

We take our places in the line up. It's been a long time since I danced like this, but I know what I'm doing.

As we come in for the bow Elena's fearful eyes arrest mine.

"What are we going to do?"

"Right now, we just have to get through this," I tell her. No need to alert the good citizens of Mystic Falls that there's anything wrong just yet.

I stand back in line, and scan around once more for Stefan. Last thing we need right now is my idiot brother bursting out of the trees with a dead girl in his arms.

The music starts, and I lift my hand to begin the dance. The first turn around we're both a little wary. I don't usually let myself get this close to Elena, and her eyes are still full of frustration at having to be here, dancing with me, instead of going after Stefan.

On the second turn I allow myself a small smile as I gaze at her, and her eyes thaw a little, staring back at me as we make the turn. This dance was founded on the intimacy of the near touch. Oh yeah, this is intimate, the way our hands are so close I can feel the damn electricity jumping across the small gap from hers to mine.

Both hands now, and I'm getting lost in those beautiful chocolate eyes. The turn finishes, and I slide in to take her in my arms for the waltz. She looks like she's about to jump out of her skin, and I can hear her heart thud as I begin to take her through the steps.

She may be a little freaked out, but I'm in Heaven. Capital H. That's the only explanation I can give for how I feel right now. I can feel Elena's soft, warm skin beneath my hands, her eyes locked with mine, her steps falling into a natural rhythm with me as we move. There's nothing else in the world for me right now but this girl, and I'm drowning in her.

I'm a total goner. There's no point in lying to myself anymore – I love her. For the second time in my life my heart's been hit by lightning. And judging by Elena's reactions – the fluttering of her heart, and the way she's gazing into my eyes – she's not totally immune to me either.

As the music stops I reluctantly let her go, stepping back from her but keeping the intense eye contact for as long as I can until she looks away.

It seems I have a new purpose for staying here in Mystic Falls.

I'm going to steal my brother's girlfriend.


	2. Elena

**Turning Points**

**Disclaimer:** I definitely do not own the Vampire Diaries.

Elena's POV

I pace around upstairs, hating the fact that I have to be here right now, when all I want to do is go and find Stefan. I'm so worried about him I can't think straight.

My name is called and I paste on a smile, trying to keep up appearances even though my heart isn't in it. I'm hoping against hope that as I round the staircase I'll see Stefan at the bottom of it, waiting for me, and everything will be okay._ Please be there. Please be there._

He's not there.

Amber's escort is the only one standing there, looking really uncomfortable and not meeting my eyes. Where the hell is Stefan? My heart is beating out of my chest as I try to keep calm and take step after step down the staircase, not knowing what I'll do when I get to the bottom. Will I have to go out there on my own?

Suddenly, there's a movement across the bottom of the staircase and Damon takes the place in line where Stefan should be. He stares up at me, his face unreadable, and quirks his lips slightly in greeting as I approach.

"Where's Stefan?" I whisper desperately, fearing the worst.

"I don't know," he whispers back as he takes my hand. Oh no. If Damon hasn't seen him then…I fake up a smile at the MC as we walk towards the door. I try glancing at Damon as we pass outside, but he's looking straight ahead and I have to face forward again too.

As we lean in for the bow I try to talk to him.

"What are we going to do?"

"Right now, we just have to get through this," he tells me, giving me the slightest nod. I straighten up and steel myself. Right. Just get this over with and then we can go look for Stefan.

The music starts. I have a split second of wondering whether Damon knows what to do, but then I catch myself – of course he would. He lived back when people actually danced like this.

We complete the first turn, eyeing each other warily. I don't want to be doing this with Damon. I want to be dancing with Stefan, smiling and having fun like we did at rehearsals.

As we start the second turn, Damon smiles slightly, and I feel a little better somehow. His face up until now has been deadly serious, which is never a good sign. It's reassuring to see a hint of the teasing Damon I'm used to.

With both hands nearly touching, I stare into his stunningly blue eyes and try to read them for any hint of what he's thinking right now. Then he glides in, closing the distance between us and taking me in his arms for the waltz. It's a hell of a shock, being so close to him, and I feel my heart jump in my chest. I break eye contact, scared of that intensity, but I'm compelled to look up at him again as he guides me in our first step of the waltz.

He's a good dancer, utterly confident in his steps and with great technique. I feel safe with him leading me, and without the steps of the dance to worry about there's nothing to distract me from his face.

I notice for what seems to be the first time how handsome he is. It's weird to think that I hadn't really noticed before, but then, Damon is usually being an ass whenever I see him. There's none of that in his face right now – it's like I'm seeing something in him for the first time, something softer, something real. A glimpse at the Damon who fell so deeply in love with Katherine that he pursued her for 145 years. A Damon that I hardly know at all. There's this intensity between us that has never been there before, and I'm feeling a little lightheaded. As the dance continues it seems like we're both smiling just ever-so-slightly at each other.

I'm so involved in him that when the dance stops it takes me a second to realize that we have to move away from each other. As he lets me go and we step back I stare at him, wondering what the hell that was. I realize then that I haven't thought about Stefan once during the whole dance. For a minute there my world was completely made up of Damon and myself. I don't have the faintest idea what to do with that, so I try to push it down and forget about it.

Stefan. We have to find Stefan.


End file.
